Syrp has just announced the new Magic Carpet Pro slider. Designed to handle some seriously heavy duty filmmaking the Magic Carpet Pro offers some very cool and interesting features. For a start, the flywheel is located in the carriage itself, removing the need for belts and pulleys for manual control. But this also allows for another perk.

Combined with new “Track Joiners”, you are able to create a slider of just about any length you wish by simply adding more lengths of track. No longer do you need to worry about having belts of different sizes, regardless of how long you want to slide. Of course, you can also add motion control it if you wish by adding either the Genie or Genie II.

Anybody getting into video soon realises that camera movement is the key to getting more interesting shots. Often the first investment made to get that movement is in some kind of inexpensive camera slider. Sliders can be amazing, but sometimes you just need more. Especially on location, sliders aren’t always the best option, sometimes you need a track dolly.

In this video, Logan at Premium Beat shows us how we can make a simple track dolly for under $50. Of course, this price may vary depending on the cost of materials available to you, but it’s a good guide price to get you started. You can possibly even get it for less if you’re patient and look for good deals online.

Anybody who shoots video or timelapse knows that the key to getting great shots often involves camera movement. This is why sliders and dollies are so popular. Almost every timelapse shooter or filmmaker I know owns one. Of course, they’re not cheap. So lots of people have come up with ingenious ways to build their own. Including one from way back in 2011 by Frugal Filmmaker that costs less than $20.

For Eric Strebel, though, while it worked great, he wanted more. So, he upgraded the one he made to add a motor. The problem is, it’s too fast. So now he’s upgraded it again to turn it into a motorised Hot Rod table dolly. The construction extends Frugal Filmmaker’s original design quite nicely. It’s a fairly simple modification, but you may need to use a few more tools.

Edelkrone’s SliderONE, whilst small, is still quite mighty. The SliderONE was introduced back in 2015, and it’s proven to be popular with those who own one. Last year, they added motors and motion control. Now the whole thing’s been updated with a slightly longer SliderONE Pro. But it’s also received some pretty cool app updates, too, offering some great motion control options to let bend time to your will.

The Edeklrone Wing also sees a second generation update, along with a new Wing PRO. While not a slider, it offers slider-like motion, allowing for a lot of movement in something that takes up very little space. This, too, has seen an update, offering higher load capacity, as well as more stabilised movements.

Making a video of cinematic quality doesn’t only depend on the quality of the camera. You can even shoot with your phone if you’re on the budget. But, you may want to add movement to your footage to make it look more professional. InMotion is an automated slider aimed particularly at those filming with smartphones. Additionally, it can support action and mirrorless cameras if that’s your preferred gear. In either case, it promises to provide you with “Hollywood quality content” without breaking the bank.

Sliders are one of the best tools to come along for those who want to add some interest to their video and timelapse sequences. They come in all shapes and sizes, and many of us own one. I own three. What I don’t have, though, is a good small motorised slider. That’s where Rhino Camera Gear’s new ROV slider hopes to fit in.

Rhino are no newcomers to sliders or timelapse gear, yet the new product is being launched through Kickstarter. And it sees some pretty good early bird deals, too, with backers able to acquire their own ROV slider for as low as $229. It looks like a neat piece of kit. Definitely handy for throwing in your backpack for those impromptu timelapses while out with your phone.

Good sliders aren’t cheap. Most cheap sliders are rarely good. But when your budget’s ultra low, what are you going to do? Either you buy something that you’ll probably use twice and throw away, or you build your own.

The latter is the option chosen by YouTuber Atti Bear in his most recent video. In it, Atti shows us how he build his slider with items bought from Ikea for a total price of less than $20.

Since initially discovering the Arduino, Eduard Puertas has spent a lot of time experimenting with it. It’s all an attempt to make his working life easier. As a stop motion animator, anything that makes his life easier is welcome. The Arduino allows him to automate many tasks that would be difficult to achieve manually. At the very least they’d take him a very long time to get perfect.

Eduard has built many automated motion control systems for his work based off the Arduino, including a slider. Now he’s revising his previous slider design to help improve things a little. He wants to keep the low weight while allowing for a larger load capacity.

Despite the proliferation of sliders, motorised ones are still quite expensive. Without motors, they’ve dropped to ridiculously low prices. But it’s really not that difficult or expensive to convert a standard manual slider into a motorised one.

This video from Max Maker demonstrates how to turn a very inexpensive slider into a more practical and useful one. It takes a little machining and a few parts, but it’s fairly straightforward. It just takes a little planning and a few tools.

Sliders and motion control go together like bangers and mash. Or perhaps peanut butter & jelly for my American friends. Unless you just want a super quick grab shot, motion control makes work with a slider go so much more smoothly (pun intended). For timelapse, some form of motion control is pretty much essential for getting even and consistent slides or other camera movements.

There’s a million options already out there from companies like Kessler and Syrp, so what makes the new Starslider so special? Well, on the surface, not much, really. It strikes me as being very similar in application to Syrp’s family of motion control & slider products. But, it does look like it can handle substantially more weight and offer easier balancing with heavy cameras setups.

Clinton Lofthouse is a Photographer, Retoucher and Digital Artist based in the United Kingdom, who specialises in creative retouching and composites. Proud 80's baby, reader of graphic novels and movie geek!
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